To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many jobs his Department estimates will be created in the UK through the construction of (a) Type 45 destroyers, (b) Astute class submarines and (c) future aircraft carriers; and what assessment he has made of the likely effect of these projects on the level of skills in the work force. (128585)

Around 8,000 personnel are currently employed by BAES and VT on surface ship and submarine business for the UK MOD in Glasgow, Barrow-in-Furness and Portsmouth. We expect current and planned programmes to ensure the retention of shipbuilding skills and expertise in the short to medium term. The Defence Industrial Strategy defined the key maritime industrial skills and capabilities we need to retain on shore to support the needs of the Royal Navy in the longer term and we are working with the shipbuilding industry to agree the core workload required to sustain these high-end design, systems engineering and combat systems integration skills across the maritime sector.